7-28-19

Good Morning,

It has been a very busy week at the golf course.  The cooler weather has really helped with the stress on the turfgrass as well as on staff.  It has also allowed us complete a lot of projects around the golf course and complete all of our scheduled maintenance practices.

We hosted Brenda Conyn’s Realty Group and CAASA on Saturday.  The theme for the day was flamingos and there were a lot of creative outfits.  So much fun watching all of them enjoy the day.  This was a great event that helped raise money for CAASA and the participants had a lot of fun.  The weather was perfect and we look forward to hosting them again in the future.

The golf course was fortunate to gain some of the sand from the berm project constructed around West Leach Park.  We used the sand to fill traps on holes #8, #9, and #17.  These traps now have adequate sand in each.  We will continue to add more sand in the near future until we address all the sand traps on the course.

We see isolated dry areas year after year when we experience the high heat for extended periods of time.  These spots first started arriving when the control panel went down in the pumphouse a couple of months ago.  Once they arrive it is very difficult to fully recover.  I have sprayed more wetting agent than any previous year.  This product helps hold water in the upper portion of the soil and move extra water through the soil profile quickly.  It’s like a magic potion for turfgrass.

There are some spots on the practice green and several other greens where I sprayed for the control of moss and algae.  Moss appears on greens when they are under a lot of stress, saturated soil conditions, and low on nutrients.  The majority of nutrients, in the soil, have not been present due to rainfall flushing them through the soil profile.  Damaged areas then become a breeding ground for the moss.  The majority of the areas are silver dollar size but the practice green and #12 had larger spots that are now black and cracked.  We will plug these areas out in the near future.

The damaged areas on holes #3, #8, and #10 have all been plugged and continually hand topdressed.  We will add some smaller plugs when we address the moss areas.  Otherwise they are starting to fill in nicely.  Hand topdressing provides a sand mixture for the bentgrass rhizomes to spread into and fill in the areas more rapidly.  We will continue the topdressing schedules moving forward.

I applied a fungicide, insecticide, foliar fertilizer, and wetting agent to the greens and collars on Wednesday morning.  The fungicide helps control dollar spot which shows up as tan lesions on the greens and collars.  The insecticide will help eliminate the presence of cutworms that were rearing their ugly head.  The crows dig the cutworms out of the greens and leave quite a mess.

We were able to mow all the park property and public works areas we have maintained for the past several years.  The extended periods of rain make it difficult to stay on top of the lower areas but we have them all mowed and trimmed.

The golf course has been string trimmed and mowed with everything looking very nice as we head into the weekend.  Sometimes it’s a battle to stay on top of it all but we try and work different hours to mow during dry conditions to provide the highest quality of cut on the fairways and tees.  I’m pleased with the condition of the course right now.

I treated the pond on number ten with copper sulphate which will eliminate the algae present.  This was done on Wednesday and the majority of the algae is gone.  I am also exploring options on how to treat the irrigation pond for other aquatic vegetation.  It becomes difficult when the chemicals require a 72 hour time frame without irrigation.  The chemical can contaminate the irrigation water and have an adverse effect on the turfgrass.  There is also the threat of fish and the fact that our pond overflows through the course and ends up in the river.  There are a lot of variables that come into play and regulations that must be followed.

The previous week I interviewed for the Recreation Director position with the City of Spencer.  On Monday I met with the City Manager and was informed they hired a new individual to fill Delray’s position.  Amanda said the new hire will be filling the Park and Recreation position and there will be no change to my position as Director of Golf Operations and the golf course will remain separate.

I appreciate the opportunity to be considered for the position and I look forward to working with the new hire.  The golf division will continue to interact with all city departments whenever the need for our assistance arises.  I also look forward to being able to 100% commit myself to the golf course on a daily basis.

 

This concludes another week at the muni.  Please contact me with any comments, questions, or concerns.  I will do my best to provide answers and address situations in a very timely manner.  Enjoy the remainder of your weekend.

7-21-19

Good Morning,

Every week is like Groundhog Day.  It has been hotter than one would like and then add in a bunch of thunderstorms and high winds.  It’s a difficult situation for our farming community and extends into our own yards where we deal with wind and hail damage.  I guess there really is no such thing as “normal” anymore.

The high temperatures really take a toll on the golf course.  Our greens and tees are sand based so the top of the soil profile dries out quickly and can go through the day at 110 degree temperature.  The rest of our course is clay based and drains poorly.  It all adds up to difficult grass growing conditions due to all the stress the plant receives during these conditions.

I have increased my foliar fertilizer applications and wetting agents on the greens to try and provide more nutrients and water holding ability within the plant.  This has caused our greens to grow rapidly through the heat and also limit the isolated dry spots.  The greens might be putting a little slower but it is for the benefit of plant health and overall quality of the golf course.

Our tees and fairways were fertilized one week ago and they have responded beautifully.  The color and health are wonderful right now.  We have some isolated dry areas on our tees which is a result of some poor irrigation coverage.  They are in a very healthy state right now.

I have continued to struggle with some irrigation issues.  Not that you would think irrigation is a necessity right now, but it is important to keep the greens cooled down during these high temperature nights.  I keep gaining a little more ground with the issues and will eventually get it all resolved.

We have some busy weeks upcoming with golf outings and tournaments.  Then it will all hit us with part time staff going back to school, leagues ending, and people talking about the Clay County Fair.

Each week goes by so quickly and we deal with a lot whether it be personal or work related.  Remember to take a step back once in a while and realize all the great things we have in our lives.  They are so much more important than what causes us stress.  Enjoy the remainder of your weekend.  It looks like a beautiful day!

7-15-19

Good Evening,

I have been experiencing some irrigation issues with programming.  The time tables are set for the amount of time each station runs during the night but for some reason keep resetting to the default time once the stations are turned on at night.  I think I have finally figured it out tonight.  It appears they are working properly at this time.  I will monitor them for a while longer before calling it a night.

Last week we were able to fertilize all the fairways and tees with a nice formula of fertilizer, 30-0-12.  This was completed on Tuesday morning and the process was completed just before the morning rain arrived.  The fairways and tees were not mowed the remainder of the week in order to let the fertilizer work it’s way into the turf canopy so it is not damaged from the mowers.

Another big project is the repair process on several of the greens.  This damage was caused by standing/freezing water in the low areas.  Seeding attempts failed due to the constant spring rainfall.  Several hundred plugs of bentgrass were removed from the practice green and transplanted into these areas.  We have followed this process by hand topdressing.  Adding the topdressing gives the bentgrass some soil to grow into as the rhizomes spread out from the plant.  I’m very pleased with the progress.

Today we hosted the SGOWA early in the morning.  It was a great day with 88 golfers participating.  They all had a good time and enjoyed the meal I prepared for their lunch.  Once the seniors were finished there was a lot of open play prior to our Monday evening league.

We are starting off the first couple weeks of the new budget pretty well.  It would be nice to have an entire year work out with quality weather and solid revenues.

Please feel free to contact me with any comments, questions, or concerns so they can be addressed in a timely manner.  Enjoy the week that lies ahead.

7-15-19

Good Evening,

I have been experiencing some irrigation issues with programming.  The time tables are set for the amount of time each station runs during the night but for some reason keep resetting to the default time once the stations are turned on at night.  I think I have finally figured it out tonight.  It appears they are working properly at this time.  I will monitor them for a while longer before calling it a night.

Last week we were able to fertilize all the fairways and tees with a nice formula of fertilizer, 30-0-12.  This was completed on Tuesday morning and the process was completed just before the morning rain arrived.  The fairways and tees were not mowed the remainder of the week in order to let the fertilizer work it’s way into the turf canopy so it is not damaged from the mowers.

Another big project is the repair process on several of the greens.  This damage was caused by standing/freezing water in the low areas.  Seeding attempts failed due to the constant spring rainfall.  Several hundred plugs of bentgrass were removed from the practice green and transplanted into these areas.  We have followed this process by hand topdressing.  Adding the topdressing gives the bentgrass some soil to grow into as the rhizomes spread out from the plant.  I’m very pleased with the progress.

Today we hosted the SGOWA early in the morning.  It was a great day with 88 golfers participating.  They all had a good time and enjoyed the meal I prepared for their lunch.  Once the seniors were finished there was a lot of open play prior to our Monday evening league.

We are starting off the first couple weeks of the new budget pretty well.  It would be nice to have an entire year work out with quality weather and solid revenues.

Please feel free to contact me with any comments, questions, or concerns so they can be addressed in a timely manner.  Enjoy the week that lies ahead.

7-7-19

The weather continues to hit us from all directions week after week.  Several storms early in the week followed by Thursday night rainfall of over 1″ at the muni and nothing on the north end of Spencer.  Friday morning we were hit with another storm early in the morning which put a halt to our mowing.  We still have standing water in all of our problem areas along with an extremely high water table.  Both of these issues makes for a mess.  We have mowed several evenings to try and have the course in nice shape this morning for our Couple’s tournament.

We have some damaged areas on greens #3, #8, and #10 from ice early in the year.  These areas are low areas on these greens that drain very slowly.  They were seeded back in the spring but the constant rainfall has set back the new seed.  Early this next week these areas will be plugged with turfgrass followed by a light topdressing.  This is the same way we repaired #17 green in the past.  This project will be complete by the end of the upcoming week.

I sprayed greens, on Wednesday, for the control of moss present on a lot of the greens.  Moss appears on greens when they are under a lot of stress, saturated soil conditions, and low on nutrients.  The majority of nutrients, in the soil, have not been present due to rainfall flushing them through the soil profile.  Damaged areas then become a breeding ground for the moss.  The majority of the areas are silver dollar size but the practice green and #12 have larger spots.  The greens will be sprayed again in two weeks and the problem will be eliminated.

I have sprayed our greens with foliar fertilizers and wetting agents more often than in the past.  The wetting agent helps eliminate the isolated dry areas when soil becomes dry and it pushes it through the soil when they are saturated.  The fertilizers are absorbed through the leaf of the plant and become readily available.  The greens look very nice right now and are in a very healthy state.  We will repair the damaged areas and continue topdressing small areas until they are 100%.

Our parking lot continues to be an issue that doesn’t want to go in the right direction.  The Street Division ran the road grader through the lot the middle of the week.  It is still so soft and they got stuck right at the NW entrance of the lot.  The water table is so high it is making it difficult to do much with the surface of the parking area.  If the old clubhouse was still in place there would be several feet of water standing in the basement.  I will continue to pursue options to remedy the situation moving forward.

Weather conditions always make or break you in any agricultural related field.  Mother Nature can create conditions that are perfect environments for deadly turfgrass diseases, flood you with rainfall, or crack you with severe drought.  The disease conditions are what we are experiencing right now.  We have been very fortunate not to experience too much disease.  I am spraying preventative applications to lessen the pressure for disease to appear as quickly as overnight.  It might be necessary to spray during times of play, which I normally try an avoid.  Communication will be very key as we move forward through the next couple of months.

Please share these email updates with others that have questions.  Get in touch with me if you have concerns.  I try an provide as much information as possible so everyone is aware of what is going on at the muni each week.  I cannot make people read the updates but I can try and make them readily available to those that want to stay up to date on happenings.

Enjoy the remainder of your weekend.  I hope everyone had a save and enjoyable Independence Day.